Psychological Test, Kent-Shakow Tri-Dimensional Form Board

Description:

Grace Helen Kent (1875-1973) spent the years from 1922 to 1926 as a psychologist at the Worcester State Hospital in Massachusetts. Kent had previously written on the use of geometric puzzles in psychology and also developed a word association test while working under A. J. Rosanoff at the Philadelphia Hospital for the Insane. In Worcester, she and psychologist David Shakow (1900-1981) sought to develop a version of the form board that would be suitable for clinical psychologists who needed to carry their equipment some distances to examine patients. They thought the form board suited to “immigrant, feeble-minded and psychotic subjects because of its self-explanatory nature” and also interesting enough to appeal to normal subjects. In 1925, Shakow and Kent published a description of the Worcester form board (see 316372.36 for a copy of the paper). It included six wooden boards. Two had nine depressions that each held one piece, two had five depressions that each held two pieces, and two had five depressions that each held three pieces.

This object is a different form of the test. It has one wooden board with three depressions. Three sets of wooden pieces fit in the board. One set has nine pieces painted green, which can be arranged so that three pieces fit in each depression. One has twelve pieces painted light brown that can be arranged with four pieces in each depression. The third has fifteen pieces painted dark brown that can be arranged with five pieces in each depression. A typed paper label on the side of the board reads: KENT-SHAKOW TRI-DIMENSIONAL FORMBOAR . . . .

Designer: Kent, Grace HelenShakow, David

Location: Currently not on view

Subject: PsychologyMathematicsPsychological Tests

Subject:

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Mathematics

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: Gift of David Shakow

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: MA.316372.03Catalog Number: 316372.03Accession Number: 316372

Object Name: Psychological Test

Physical Description: wood (overall material)Measurements: overall: 2.5 cm x 46 cm x 30.5 cm; 31/32 in x 18 1/8 in x 12 in

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-2fb8-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_694535

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